Curiousgorge66 Studios/History
This is the history of Curiousgorge66 Studios and its predecessors. 1984 - February 2014 MTV Productions (1984 - 1988) MTV Productions was a production company that produced the MTV Saturday morning cartoon block, with the exception of Dream Warriors, which was produced by MTV Networks. First NBC show (1987) In 1987, the first CG66 Studios-owned show produced for NBC, Ketchup Cafe: Cats That Cook (not to be confused with the later Ketchup: Cats Who Cook), began airing. Bankruptcy of MTV Productions and folding into MTV Networks (1988) Shortly after MTV's Saturday morning cartoon block was cancelled, MTV Productions filed for bankruptcy, and seven weeks later, was folded into MTV Networks. Formation of CBS Studios (1990) In 1990, CBS founded its former film production company CBS Studios. Although many believe that it was a predecessor to the studio, CBS Studios was later acquired by the studio itself. Davies and Co. formation (1992) In 1992, the true predecessor to the studio, Davies and Co., was formed. Expansion into anime (1995/1997) In 1995, the first anime picked up by Davies and Co., Dragon Ball: Broly, began production and began airing in America in 1997. Launch of Disneytoon (1996) In 1996, Davies and Co. announced that they were launching Disneytoon (not to be confused with the animation company of the same name), their answer to the Disney Channel (and later, Toon Disney). In the same year, their first Nickelodeon production, Rocketman, debuted. Doctor Who Animated Series & Ask CBS News (1997) In 1997, Russell T. Davies (who would later write for Doctor Who) created the Doctor Who Animated Series, and later the side project Ask CBS News. The Doctor Who Animated Series later became the studio's longest-running non-newscast animated program. Launch of Noggin HD (1997) In 1997, Davies and Co. launched Noggin HD (even though the real Noggin launched two years later, in 1999). Deal with Disney as Davies and Co. (1998 - 2006) In 1998, Davies and Co. announced that they had entered a deal with Disney to produce two shows for ABC. The deal, initially to expire in 2003, was renewed through the 2006-2007 season in 2001. The deal ended in 2006 after the series finale to the original Nightwatchers series aired. Harry Potter and Videogame Hype (2001 - 2008) In 2001, the first and only CG66 Studios-owned show for Fox as of 2015, Harry Potter, debuted. During this time, Videogame Hype (a videogame-based division of Davies and Co.) was founded, distributing shows such as The Legend of Zelda, Luigi's Mansion, Super Mario Adventures, Paper Mario: The Series (Paper Mario: The Series would only be distributed by Videogame Hype in America, as it was a Canadian production) and Sonic Heroes. In 2008, Videogame Hype was folded into Davies and Co., leaving Videogame Hype's parent company to distribute the 2008-2014 seasons of Paper Mario: The Series, Super Mario Adventures, and Sonic Unleashed. The Adventures of Sector Z and Torchwood: The Animated Series (2007 - 2008) In 2006, Davies and Co. announced their first show for Cartoon Network (which was surprisingly a Codename: Kids Next Door spin-off co-produced by Mr. Warburton), as well as their first NBC show they had since Ketchup Cafe: Cats That Cook, Torchwood: The Animated Series. Both series ended in 2010 after 65 episodes each. Launch of The CW Sundays (2008) In 2008, The CW Sundays was launched, with Harry Potter being the block's first program. Launch of Cartoon Network XD (2009) On February 2nd, 2009, Cartoon Network XD was launched replacing Noggin HD, with Sonic the Hedgehog being their first original to premiere since the rebrand. Launch of Vortexx Network and Nick Studio 10 (2013) In 2013, Vortexx Network, based off of the former block of the same name, was launched. In the same year, the network's first original, Nick Studio 10, debuted. Opening of Cartoon Network XD Arcade (2013) In 2013, the Cartoon Network XD Arcade was opened to the public. 2014 - present Cartoon Crossover and takeover of Davies and Co. (2014) In 2014, Curiousgorge66 Studios was founded and took over production (and the credit) for a new Davies and Co. production, Cartoon Crossover. In the same year, Curiousgorge66 Studios also bought out every single pre-2014 Davies and Co. animated series, and the company itself, in addition to a few independent networks such as GorgeTV and GorgeToons Network, as well as the Welsh production company Jetix Cymru and its O&O channels Disneytoon and Disney XD Wales. Creation of Gorge, the studio's mascot (2014 - 2015) On November 25th, 2014, Curiousgorge66 Studios announced The Alternate Syndicate, Curiousgorge66's Adventures and Curiousgorge66's Movie Adventure, which premiered between December 2014 and January 2015. All three of them feature Gorge, the studio's mascot since January 1st, 2015. Rebranding GorgeTV and GorgeToons Network (2015) In 2015, Curiousgorge66 Studios announced the new Nickelodeon Family name to replace the GorgeTV/GorgeToons Network brandings. The new branding was rolled out throughout 2015. Prior to the rebrand, three Nickelodeon programs have aired on GorgeTV. Deal with Corus Entertainment (2015) In 2015, Curiousgorge66 Studios announced a deal with Corus Entertainment. The deal would allow the launch of the Nickelodeon Family name in Canada. It also ended its initial DHX Media output deal, despite DHX only launching one network under GorgeTV branding (Gorge Network). That network was later sold to Corus due to being brought under Nickelodeon Family branding. Despite this, DHX will continue to produce animated programming for the studio, mainly the revival of Alien. ToonNick International/Curiousgorge66 Networks (2015) In February 2015, ToonNick International was founded. In October 2015, Curiousgorge66 Studios bought the company from Viacom, rebranding it in the process. The ToonNick channel remained unchanged after the company was sold because the channel has been there before Curiousgorge66 Studios was founded. Chrgd on The CW (2015) On October 4th, 2015, The CW Sundays (by then known as The CW XD) was shut down after an airing of Koit's Magic Beans. On October 11th, 2015, Chrgd on The CW was launched with an airing of The Fairly Oddparents. Current events (2015 - present) Throughout December 2015 and 2016, Nickelodeon, Nicktoons, Cartoon Network, and History were launched in Welsh regions. Unlike other UK children's channels, most Welsh channels owned by Curiousgorge66 Studios are not subject to Ofcom regulations, due to the fact that Jetix Cymru is the licensee for the Welsh counterparts to U.S. networks. In December 2015, Curiousgorge66 Studios announced their acquisition of CBS Studios and Cartoon Network XD Networks (the latter later being rebranded as "Curiousgorge66 XD Networks" until being folded). In 2016, Curiousgorge66 Studios announced a deal with Disney to produce more shows for Freeform (and later, Disney XD). They also announced their intent to revive Nickelodeon's former programming that same year. In the same year, they also announced that they were bringing Coca-Cola Freestyle machines to Nickelodeon Family Arcade, due to Coca-Cola's 50% ownership of the arcade. In March 2016, the studio's first Disney XD series, Tom vs. the Supernatural, debuted. Also in March 2016, the studio announced that Curiousgorge66 XD Networks would be folded into Curiousgorge66 Networks. The folding took place on March 24th, 2016. Curiousgorge66 Studios later announced the creation of Gorgina, Gorge's gender-flipped counterpart, when they announced Through the Magic Mirror, in addition to a new movie based off of a chat roleplay, which is yet to be named. On March 29th, 2016, Curiousgorge66 Studios extended its deal with Viacom (Nickelodeon) by 10 years, in addition to extending its deal with Time Warner (Cartoon Network) by 10 years; both deals are set to expire sometime in 2026. Deal with DreamWorks Animation (2016) In 2016, Curiousgorge66 Studios announced a deal with DreamWorks Animation. The deal allows for DreamWorks Animation programming to air on the Nickelodeon Family networks. Deal with the Charlotte market (2016) In 2016, Curiousgorge66 Studios entered a deal with every owner of every station serving the Charlotte market, including Raycom Media (WBTV's owner), Cox Media Group (owners of WSOC and WAXN), Tegna Media (owner of WCNC), Bahakel Communications (WCCB) and Fox Television Stations (owners of their O&Os, WJZY and WMYT). The deal allows for the studio to launch a channel carrying programming from Charlotte's stations of the companies who signed the deal. So far, the only company that owns a Charlotte station that the studio hasn't made a deal with yet is WHKY owner Long Communications. The channel was never launched, and the deals expired on June 5th, 2016. Creation of DisneyAdult (2016) In 2016, Disney announced a new adult-oriented channel for its adult-oriented shows. At the same time, Disney contacted Curiousgorge66 Studios to produce every DisneyAdult original. At the same time of the announcement, Curiousgorge66 Studios was co-producing a couple of Disney XD shows for adults, including Tom vs. the Supernautral, the Canadian imports Conker: Reloaded and Game & Wario, and the British import Dimension Travelers. On June 23rd, 2016, Disney announced that the channel has been scrapped. Creation of new Canadian specialty channels (2016) In 2016, Curiousgorge66 Studios and Corus Entertainment announced that Corus was gonna launch a Canadian version of the DisneyAdult network, in addition to localized versions of NickFamily Anime, NickFamily Retro (which would mark the first time NickFamily Retro was used in Canada since the original Canadian NickFamily Retro rebranded as NickFamily Extreme), Disneytoon Network (the name was previously used for the 1996 - 2014 Welsh channel of the same name, and currently used for the animation studio of the same name), and ToonNick TOO. All the announced channels were expected to launch in Canada by the end of 2016, but the licenses for the channels were refused by the CRTC. Upcoming Disney XD productions (2016) In 2016, Curiousgorge66 Studios announced new series for Disney XD, including Hamster Princess, the English dub of Maple Town '16 (the Japanese version will air on Disney Junior on Disney Channel in Japan), Recess: Australia (which will air on Nicktoons Network in Australia and New Zealand; Recess: Australia was previously announced at a conference meeting at Nickelodeon Suites Resort), Phineas and Ferb: Tales from the 2nd Dimension, Little Einsteins '16, Kenny's Fears (the first adult series for the network since the 2016 reboot of the Sonic the Hedgehog TV series), The Otters and the Possums (which will air on Disney Junior in Australia and New Zealand), Phineas Gage: A True Story about Brain Science (the first documentary for the network), How to Prevent a Nuclear Disaster, and reboots of the previous Curiousgorge66 Studios series The 49ers and Sylvanian Popples (the originals being run on The CW and Cartoon Network, respectively); as of July 2016, some of these were scrapped due to Disney XD's schedule. Conference at Nickelodeon Suites Resort (2016) In March 2016, the studio, inviting Gary Marsh, Philippe Dauman, Jeff Bewkes, and various animators, held a conference meeting at the Nickelodeon Suites Resort. During the conference, series such as Recess: Australia (Nicktoons Network in Australia and Disney XD in the US), Welcome to Lake High School (Disney XD), The Loud House: Escape from the House (Nicktoons), Hard Rock 101 (Disney XD), Hitler and the Terrors of Nazism (Disney XD), Popple Princess (Disney XD), Rocko's Advanced Life (Nicktoons), Rocket Power: Extreme Sports (Nicktoons), and Figure it Out 2K16 (Nickelodeon) were announced. All series were expected to premiere in 2016. The conference lasted two days, and Curiousgorge66 Studios paid for everyone who was invited to spend the night at the hotel. The studio later announced that all of their further conference meetings will be held at the new Nickelodeon Studios (not to be confused with the former Nickelodeon Studios), due to the Nickelodeon Suites Resort's conversion to a Holiday Inn. Curiousgorge66's Adventures: Season 7 (2016) In 2016, Curiousgorge66 Studios announced that season 7 of Curiousgorge66's Adventures will be the last season of the show, but not the franchise they spun-off from the show. Season 7 of the show is expected to be 26 episodes long. Planned Curiousgorge66 Studios Convention (2016) In April 2016, Curiousgorge66 Studios announced that they were hosting a convention at Nickelodeon Universe. The convention was to have musical acts such as Rod Stewart, Steve Perry, Paul McCartney, Nikki Sixx, Ray Davies, Dave Davies, The Who, Jimmy Page, and Manfred Mann. In September 2016, the convention was cancelled due to financial issues. Acquisition of WNC (2016) In 2016, the studio acquired superstation WNC from WNCK-TV. Initially, all superstation transmission was to cease by the end of 2016 due to the network's intended conversion into a Nickelodeon Family network; though, due to the launch of NickFamily Worldwide in May 2016, the studio announced that WNC was to "remain as is; though it's very unlikely newer programming will show up past the end of 2016". Streaming services (2016) In 2016, the studio announced two new streaming services- Cartoon Network GO, which was to be owned by the studio under license from Time Warner, and Teletoon Zone, which was to be owned by Corus Entertainment, respectively. Both services launched on June 10th, 2016. GTV and end of A+E deal (2017) In 2017, the studio announced the launch of GTV, a network that airs reruns of their former programming. In preparation, a block was launched on Cartoon Network XD. That same year, the studio announced that it would not renew its deal with A+E Networks, which expired on January 21st, 2017. The expiration of the deal meant that the studio now has full distribution rights to Fix This Cartoonish House and Storage Wars: NC, and the studio sold its other A&E-produced assets back to A+E Networks. Proposed Disney buyout (2017) In March 2017, it was announced that Disney Channels Worldwide was planning to reach an acquisition deal to acquire Curiousgorge66 Studios for $100 million. The deal would have meant that the studio must cut all ties with most networks not owned by the studio, though this was later modified so that if a series that airs on a network that is neither owned by the studio nor Disney has not ended before the approval of the acquisition, the network would still be able to air the show through no later than 2019. The channels owned by the studio will continue to operate under their current branding under license. The acquisition deal was inspired by the fact that the studio is producing more Disney XD series. However, on the night of March 5th, 2017, Disney announced that it had called off the merger. On January 2nd, 2018, Curiousgorge66 Studios said that the reason why the deal was called off was due to antitrust issues. Licensing deal with Nick UK (2017) In May 2017, Nickelodeon UK announced that it would buy off the British first-run broadcasting rights to all of the studio's children's programs (excluding co-productions with other British networks, such as Parody Central, which Cartoon Network XD co-produced with CITV). Even if the deal was called off, Nick UK would still hold the British broadcasting rights to series such as B-Daman Unleashed and Rock Starz Unite!, the latter a co-production between Nicktoons UK and Teletoon. The Scottish and Welsh versions of Nickelodeon would not be affected in the deal due to being owned by CG66 Studios under license from Viacom Media Networks. Recent developments (2017 - present) In August 2017, BronzePlanet and Mystical Entertainment entered talks with CG66 Studios to buy NickFamily Anime and the UK feeds of NickFamily Retro and NickFamily Extreme. Subsequently, Rogers Media entered talks with Corus Entertainment to acquire the license for the Canadian NickFamily Extreme, for a combined $1.46 billion USD. The deal would help fund a second season of WKRP in Cincinnati '17, as well as planned NickFamily Toons and Nicktoons Family original series. On August 22nd, 2017, while the sale of the remaining channels involved is still pending, NickFamily Anime became the first channel involved in the deal to be sold. The American broadcast rights to Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt were also sold to BronzePlanet at the same time. On October 8th, 2017, The CW TOO was sold to BronzePlanet and Mystical Entertainment. Curiousgorge66 Studios cited a number of reasons for this, including the channel's initial affiliation deal expiring in October 2017 and the channel not securing an extension of their contract, as well as not having first-run programming in its schedule outside CW network hours. The proceeds from the sale will go towards production of the NickFamily Studios dub of eSports: The Animation. On November 5th, 2017, three Canadian channels- NickFamily Extreme, Boomerang, and Nicktoons Network- were sold to Rogers Media. The proceeds will go towards the rollout of the Aura branding in Canada, a second season of Lip Sync Battle: Canada, the Time Force Christmas special, and a continuation of the dub of FLCL: Alt. In November 2017, Aura replaced Vortexx Network on most cable providers; AT&T U-verse continued to carry Vortexx Network until December 31st, 2017, when AuraToons launched. On November 27th, 2017, Axiom Entertainment announced that they intended on buying up the channel. The deal has yet to be approved. In January 2018, it was announced that CBS Studios' license agreement with CBS was set to expire on January 31st, 2018; Curiousgorge66 Studios has since announced that it would make the studio a subsidiary of NickFamily Studios, move the television studios of Aura into its facility and rename the studio into Aura Television Productions. CBS Studios' operations were moved to a separate facility, at which point the studio was renamed Aura Films. Max Steel (2017) is notable for being Curiousgorge66 Studios' first distributed television series not originally created for broadcast television to neither air on network or cable television in the UK and Ireland, instead airing in syndication. Since February 2018, every Nickelodeon Family and Nicktoons Family original series has been made available for streaming on Netflix, with no plans to put them up for streaming on Hulu; however, some series are available for free on the Nickelodeon Family mobile app and YouTube a la YTV Direct. On February 23rd, 2018, Curiousgorge66 Studios shut down its Ohio offices, citing safety concerns. The same day, the sales for both Nickelodeon XD and Nicktoons XD were finalized. The proceeds would go towards licensing several anime series that has not been released in the United States at the time. In March 2018, Viacom International Media Networks Europe sued Jetix Cymru for using the TeenNick branding for a French general entertainment channel not specifically aimed at teens; Viacom Europe and Jetix Cymru have since reached an out-of-court settlement, including a rename of the channel as Aura. On March 18th, 2018, Curiousgorge66 Studios announced it was shuttering its Southeast Asia division, and will sell off its operations except those directly owned by Aura International. On March 21st, 2018, rumors began circulating that Curiousgorge66 Studios was planning to either shut down or sell the U.S. Cartoon Network XD channel, with an announcement rumored once its sole remaining first-run series Parody Central ends its first-run. Acknowledging this, it was announced that Cartoon Network XD Retro would rebrand as Aura Retro should such an announcement be made. Previous sale talks occurred with the Canadian and British feeds. On the same day, the sale for CN XD UK was finalized. As operations for Cartoon Network XD continue to wind down, Nickelodeon announced on April 2nd, 2018 that it was ending its licensing agreement with the main Cartoon Network XD channel in the United States, in favor of an expanded agreement with Nickelodeon Family Networks, USA. The same day, Jetix Cymru sued Aura Xtreme Networks for not strongly committing to the sale of Vortexx Network, as Google Fiber continues to drop it in certain markets. On April 7th, 2018, Aura Xtreme Networks filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy, subsequently selling off Vortexx Network to Axiom Entertainment, and the English distribution rights for the anime Shuriken and Pleats (as well as the masters for the Cartoon Network XD dub) to NickFamily Studios. As NickFamily Studios has become a subsidiary of Aura Television Productions months before, Aura Xtreme Networks' liquidation would not affect Shuriken and Pleats' move to Aura in the United States.